


moving (together)

by Satine86



Series: that modern AU [4]
Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Moving In Together, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 02:24:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14510466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satine86/pseuds/Satine86
Summary: Moving in together isn't always fun and games, until it is.





	moving (together)

**Author's Note:**

> People also asked for the whole moving in thing? So here's some pointless domesticity, because apparently I can't be stopped. I have so many ideas for so many things... help me.

It hadn’t been instantaneous, even if the question had been asked rather simply. Because moving in together meant a lot of things. 

It meant she had to have a talk with W.D., since they currently shared a lease. He had been less than thrilled with the situation, though it was more because it meant he was losing a familiar roommate than anything else. Luckily for him, Walter was in need of a place to stay. And Luckily for Anne, their apartment manager was very helpful in letting her take her name off the lease. Thankfully things had been far easier on Phillip’s end, because he owned his condo. 

Next came the actual hard part: physically moving. 

Despite the fact she had a only few years prior moved all the way from Louisiana to New York, it seemed Anne had settled quite well into her new life in the city. Accumulating a plethora of items to reflect her new life. Fortunately, she happened to know a pair of strapping young men to help with the task. Men who also happened to whine like toddlers. 

W.D. had been pouty and moody the entire time they were loading up the rented moving van. Complaining about everything from how heavy the boxes were, to the fact she was taking the tall lamp from the living room. Though she attributed most of that to the fact she was leaving, and everything was about to change. 

She stood on the sidewalk when they had finished, gave W.D. a tight squeeze around his waist. “I love youuuuuu,” she sang. 

He gave her a quick hug in return, patted her head. “Yeah, I guess I love you too.” 

“You know once Walter moves in, you both will have a blast so don’t you pout at me.”

“I’m not pouting!” 

“Yes, you are.”

He gave her a disgusted face, then nodded at the moving van. “You got the stuff mom sent, right?” 

“Yup.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to drive you over?” 

“I got it. Besides, I’ll have Phillip to help on the other end.” She beamed at him. “I’ll text you when I get there. Oh, and Phillip wanted to get dinner sometime this week? So keep in that mind before you start having raging parties with Walter.” 

“I’ll try my best to behave.” W.D. waved goodbye, watching as she climbed into the van and set off toward Phillip’s. 

 

***

 

Once she made it across down, Anne found Phillip to be just as whiny as her brother had been, grumbling the entire time about quantity of boxes. This she attributed to the fact they had to carry everything up stairs, rather than down them. 

“Please tell me this is the last box,” Phillip said, stacking it with the others currently crowding his living room. He looked around at everything with narrowed eyes. “Your apartment was tiny, how did this all fit in there? Did you take W.D’s stuff too?” 

“It’ll be fine once I get everything where it needs to go.” 

“Uh huh.” He was still eyeing the boxes suspiciously. 

“And,” she drawled, “mama might’ve sent a few things up. And they might’ve arrived a couple days ago.” 

“What kinds of things?” 

“Just some homey things, now that I’m settling down with my man,” she laughed.

“Her words, I’m guessing?” Phillip grinned. “Though I suppose I should be glad, it means she’s not gonna to fly out and yell at me for corrupting her baby; luring her into some den of iniquity.” 

Anne put her arms around Phillip’s waist, leaned back just enough to look at his face. “I think you get a general pass since W.D. has basically given you his seal of approval.” 

“Has he? I’m honored and completely floored. I thought he was still one step away from punching me.” 

“Oh, I’m sure he is. He’s just learned to tolerate you.” She cackled while he scowled. “I will let you in on a secret though, I think mama already likes you. Although now that we’re living together, you’ll probably have to actually talk to her on Skype.” 

“I think I can handle that, and who knows? Maybe in a little while we’ll take a trip down to New Orleans?”

She perked at that, she hadn’t been home in over a year. She and W.D. had missed last Christmas because they had only just been hired by P.T. and knew they wouldn’t have been able to take the time off. 

“Really? Anne asked. 

“Yeah, why not? I would love to meet your mother and grandmother. We can bring W.D. too, it’ll be a full Wheeler family reunion.” 

“Mama would love that. **I** would love that.” 

“Then we’ll make sure it happens.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Now, let’s start unpacking because at this point I have idea where it’s all going to live.”

“Oh? You assume all of your stuff is staying where it is?” 

“Is that a threat, Wheeler?” 

“It might be.”

“You can’t threaten me in my own home.” He arched an eyebrow at her, teasing. She felt a smile spreading across her face. 

“What if it’s _our_ home?” 

He pretended to think about it. “Mm, I’ll allow it.” 

“Good.” She pecked his lips, untangled herself from his arms. “Because I'm serious about getting rid of things,” she said, heading toward the bedroom.

“Wait, Anne,” he called after her. “What am I getting rid of?” 

 

***

 

“Yes.”

“No.” 

“Yes.”

“No.”

Anne turned her head. “Baby, it’s hideous.” 

“I’ve had it since college, it’s seen me through a lot.”

“It’s a lamp, Phillip.”

“Exactly, it shouldn’t matter if it stays or goes.”

The lamp in question was, in Anne’s humble opinion, everything wrong about 1960s decor. The avocado green porcelain base was the single ugliest thing she had ever seen, and it was chipped in several places. The ancient shade was yellowed and dingy. She could have compromised, said they would get a new shade and called it done. But the wiring was off and it flickered annoyingly every time she tried to use it. Which was often, since it was the only bedside light. 

And it was so ugly. Nothing would ever change that. 

She grabbed Phillip’s face, mashed his cheeks between her hands like her great Auntie had done to her as a child. He did not seem impressed. 

“You have good taste,” she said. “You’re well dressed, you always look good. The rest of the place is decorated nicely. So why do you have this?” 

He was laughing now. “I don’t really know,” he said. 

Anne let go of his face and stepped back. “Have you been arguing with me just for the sake of arguing?” 

“No, why would I do that?” he scoffed. 

“Phillip Carlyle!” She shoved his shoulder before marching over to the offending thing, unplugged it and it disposed of it in the donation box. Then she picked it up and put it the box of things to be trashed out of pure spite.

“How did it come to be in your possession? Honestly?” 

“Uh, my roommate in college left it behind at the end of Freshman year. I only took it because we needed to clear everything out of the dorm. It stayed in the box until I moved back in the fall, and one night I needed a light while I was studying. Then I just never got rid of it?” He shrugged.

“Then why argue about it?”

“You were so dead set against it, it was just kind of funny to rile you up a little bit.” He squinted at her, held his thumb and forefinger close together. 

Anne crossed her arms and scowled at him. 

“Uh oh,” he said, still clearly amused. “Not even a full day living together and I’m already in the doghouse. Am I going to have to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“No, you’ve just earned two more spots in the donation box. So start thinking about what you wanna say goodbye to, Carlyle.” 

“You just said I had good taste, what else could possibly go?” He glanced at the boxes, both were nearly full, mostly with old things and whatever redundant items that came with combining two households. 

Phillip started to slowly walk toward her. “Really,” he said, “I do have impeccable taste. Especially in women.” 

“Don’t you try to be charming.” She narrowed her eyes even as her lips twitched. 

“I’m not trying, I just naturally am.” He grinned and slipped his arms around her waist. Anne rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms, looping them around his neck. 

“I still think you need to make it up to me,” she said with a teasing smile. 

“And what can I do to amend this terrible affront?” He dipped his head, kissing the juncture where her neck and shoulder met. 

“That’s a good start,” Anne said. “You also need to take care of dinner.” 

He lifted his head slightly, breath warm against her skin. “Done,” he mumbled before returning to his previous task, and walked her back until she was pressed against the wall.

“And,” Anne sighed, “it’s been a very long day of lifting heavy boxes. I think I deserve a back rub.” 

“Absolutely,” he murmured. She felt him smile against her skin. “Shirt on or off?” 

“Off, of course. That’s the only way to really work out the knots.”

“Of course.” He slid his hands around to her sides, gripping the hem of her t-shirt and pulling up. “It’s too early for dinner, might as well get started on that massage right now.”

His knuckles ghosted over her stomach, her ribs, and he kissed all along her collarbone. Anne shivered, felt warmth pooling in the pit of her stomach. 

“But I’m gross and sweaty.”

“So am I, though we do have access to a shower,” he said. He had one hand on her neck, thumb digging pleasantly into a particularly sore spot, while the other was snaking its way down the front of her yoga pants. 

“That sounds n-nice.” Her breath hitched, because what his fingers were currently doing felt _really_ nice. 

For a long while, Phillip made no move toward the shower. Anne remained pinned against the wall, hands bunched in the back of his shirt, while his lips were glued to her neck and his fingers found their way under the band of her underwear. Her breath caught in her throat, hips grinding against his hand as warmth suffused her entire body. 

“We should move,” Anne mumbled, eyes barely open and knees a little weak. He was pressed firmly against her, and she could feel his growing arousal through his jeans. 

“Mm, should we?” Phillip pulled back, watched her reaction for a moment as he used his thumb to trace circles against her.

Anne’s eyes fell shut, and she tried to focus on breathing. She wound the fabric of his shirt in her hands so tightly, she thought it might tear. Her head was light, and a familiar ache had settled between her legs, right where Phillip’s thumb was rubbing against her. She rocked against him, wanting nothing more than to relieve the building pressure. 

All too soon he withdrew his hand, and her eyes flew open. She watched as he bent slightly, hooked his arms around her thighs and hiked her up. Anne moved her arms to twine around his neck, her legs wrapping about his waist. 

Phillip maneuvered them to the bathroom, Anne using her new position to kiss along his jaw, nip at his earlobe. The second her feet touched the tiled floor, there was a scramble to strip their clothes while getting the shower to a remotely desirable temperature. 

“Too cold!” Phillip sputtered the second he stepped under the stream. Anne giggled, quickly turning the faucet.

“Better?” 

“Was that retaliation for teasing you earlier?” he asked, pulling her toward him again. 

“It wasn’t intentional, but I guess now we can call it even?” Her laughter died when Phillip bit her shoulder, soothed it with his tongue. 

“Phillip,” she said after a while, voice a little shaky. He hummed his response against her throat. “I’m glad I moved in.” 

He looked up at her, eyes hooded with desire. “So am I,” he said right before he dropped to his knees in front of her.


End file.
